


Stranded

by merry_amelie



Series: Academic Arcadia [170]
Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Alternate Reality, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-02-09
Updated: 2011-02-09
Packaged: 2018-04-09 18:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4359485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merry_amelie/pseuds/merry_amelie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unexpected blizzard blows into Alder Run.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stranded

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback: Is treasured at merryamelie@aol.com (or leave a comment).
> 
> Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns everything Star Wars. I'm not making any money.
> 
> For  
> My beta team: Nerowill, Emila-Wan, and Carol  
> Mali Wane for posting  
> My former betas: Alex, Ula, and Padawan Sue
> 
> To Diotima

"Please help me!"  
  
Just as he dropped the Sunday New York Times beside the skim milk in his cart, Ian heard a panicky voice, rising with every word. He looked around in concern, trying to identify the speaker.  
  
"I can't get home! I'm afraid I'm going to fall in all this slush." The middle-aged woman speaking was tall, brunette, and heavyset; her face was reddened from her distress, as well as the cold air outside. She wore a brown fake-fur coat and her hands, despite their gloves, were visibly trembling.  
  
An unexpected blizzard had blown into Alder Run that afternoon, turning rain into snow and cleared sidewalks into skating rinks for the umpteenth time this winter. People with cabin fever had ventured out, only to be reminded that February in Upstate New York could be a crueler month than April, Eliot notwithstanding.  
  
Ian knew he had to do something to help her, seeing right away that she'd have problems in these conditions.  
  
She was talking to the store manager, who looked bored and unmoved by her plight. The woman seemed to recognize this and got more desperate by the moment.  
  
Ian walked up to them. "Excuse me, ma'am? I'd be happy to take you home," he said in the polite, easy way he had with neighbors.  
  
"Thank you, young man." The look she gave him held the purest relief he'd ever seen. He almost blushed to see it. Apparently, she had been afraid she'd end up stranded here. The manager gave him a relieved look, too -- relieved to have her off his hands.  
  
"Hello, I'm Ian Prentice. Pleased to meet you, ma'am." He shook her hand, his eyes even more kind when he felt that she was still trembling.  
  
Gratitude poured off her. "I'm Sharrie Roberts and I live up Kashique Way."  
  
Ian nodded. "That's out by the new temple, right?"  
  
"Yes, it is." Sharrie was delighted that he knew how to get there. "My husband's outside, trying to find a taxi. But I don't think they're running in this weather."  
  
Ian grinned. "Don't worry. I have to drive very slowly anyhow, so we'll see him and pick him up along the way."  
  
If possible, she looked even more relieved.  
  
"What color jacket is he wearing?" Ian asked.  
  
"Forest green," Sharrie answered. "And he has a brown and cream plaid scarf on."  
  
"That'll be easy to spot against the snow," Ian said reassuringly. "My husband's in the produce aisle. We'll get him, check out, and be on the road."  
  
Not a flicker of unease from Sharrie at 'My husband,' Ian noted with approval. Their neighbors had proven to be an open-minded lot, Prudence excepted, perhaps because they lived so close to Luke, an Ivy-League university.  
  
Since they were at the customer service desk, they had to walk the entire length of the store to get to Quinn in the produce department. As they walked through the aisles to meet him, Sharrie's gratitude made her voluble. "My husband Victor wanted to take me out to lunch because it looked like the first rainy day after all this snow we've been having."  
  
"Nice of him." Ian itched to walk faster but kept himself to Sharrie's pace.  
  
"He's extremely thoughtful." Love shone in her eyes. "I've been trapped in our apartment most of the winter. The temperatures have barely made it out of the deep freeze for months now, and the snow takes forever to melt."  
  
"Talk about cabin fever," Ian said sympathetically. "This is the worst winter since I moved up here in 2004. We had some amazing snow in northern New Jersey, too, but nothing like this."  
  
"Know what you mean. I grew up in Roseland, and we could actually see blacktop in February at least half of the time." Her tone was wistful.  
  
Ian said, "We were a bit further north, in Padua, but it was about the same."  
  
"Our Super has been wonderful about shoveling; he keeps our parking lot and sidewalks as clear as he can." Sharrie looked up at Ian earnestly. "But even shoveling hasn't helped that much this year. The mountains of snow melt a bit in the sun, then the water runs along the sidewalks and ices over at night."  
  
Ian nodded. "That's exactly what's been happening with our driveway."  
  
"So today, after it rained all morning and washed a lot of the snow away, it seemed like the perfect time to go out, so we decided to chance it." Sharrie snorted. "When we left, the sidewalks were completely clear. The snow wasn't supposed to start for another couple of hours." She sighed in frustration. "It was only light rain, and I didn't have any problems with footing. But then the temperature went down while we were eating, even though it was only one o'clock."  
  
Ian said, "I know. Couldn't believe it went from rain to snow. It's usually the other way around, especially at midday."  
  
"And to think I actually believed the forecast!" She rolled her eyes.  
  
Both of them laughed at this, veterans of inaccurate predictions and seemingly arbitrary last-minute changes by the local forecasters.  
  
Sharrie continued, "So we got up to go after lunch, and the first step I took outside was on slush. Victor held onto me tight and kept me going." She smiled, thinking of her attentive husband. "Thought I might actually make it, too, but then it kept getting more and more slushy. I pretty much slid over here. I think I would've fallen if I'd tried to make it all the way home." She hesitated, clearly embarrassed. "I fell on the ice and hit my head years ago, and its spooked me ever since."  
  
"How awful!" Ian patted her hand. "We almost didn't go shopping today ourselves because of the slush." He whistled. "Good thing we ran out of skim milk, or we wouldn't be here."  
  
Sharrie nodded vigorously. "If not for you, young man, I don't know what we would have done."  
  
Ian felt a flush heating his cheeks. "I'm sure Victor would have found a way."  
  
"If anybody could, he would. He takes care of me so well." Sharrie beamed. "When I made it here, he was so relieved because he hoped they'd be able to help me." She let out an eloquent snort. "Well, you saw how that worked out."  
  
Ian grinned at her wry delivery. "Well, at least it ended up happily. We had a chance to meet and you've got a safe way home now."  
  
"I'm one lucky lady," she said.  
  
Quinn was up ahead, debating between two bunches of bananas.  
  
Ah, here's my husband now." Ian introduced them courteously. They shook hands, as he was saying, "Sharrie's apartment is close by. Let's drop her and her husband off on the way home."  
  
"Sounds good," said Quinn easily adapting to their new plans.  
  
They stood on line at a register and paid for their groceries, then headed out to the parking lot. Ian could immediately see that Sharrie had trouble walking outside, even in the patchy snow blown under the awning of the market. She clutched at his hand frantically as he helped her balance.  
  
When she'd been in the store, she walked at an ordinary pace, even if a tad slow; as soon as she had to walk on the wet snow, she slowed to a crawl, and every footstep looked like a gamble.  
  
Luckily for her, she was flanked by two sure-footed men, and they unobtrusively took her arms and offered their support. When they finally made it to the Audi, she could not suppress a sigh of relief, and sat back in the front passenger's seat as if she'd just run a marathon.  
  
Quinn was more than happy to squeeze into the backseat, just to have her safely inside the car. Though Ian hadn't had the chance to tell him the whole story, he had a pretty good idea of why they had an unexpected guest on the ride home.  
  
"Quinn, please be on the lookout for a man in a green jacket and brown and cream scarf. Sharrie's husband Victor is out there, probably somewhere on the main street."  
  
While Ian concentrated on the road, trying not to skid on the ice, Quinn and Sharrie tried to see through a haze of swirling white snowflakes.  
  
After a few interminable minutes, Sharrie shouted, "There he is!" and pointed to a tall man trudging by the post office.  
  
Ian was charmed by the jubilation in her voice as he pulled up beside him. Luckily, Victor recognized Sharrie through the snowflakes, as she made it easier by her energetic waving and tapping on the window.  
  
Victor got into the car, patting Sharrie on the shoulder even as he sat down. "Hello! Thank you very much."  
  
Sharrie turned around to give him a big smile. "Now I can relax."  
  
Quinn and Ian knew just what she meant and grinned at the couple. When she could take her eyes off her husband, Sharrie made introductions, and the professors were pleasantly surprised to find that Victor was a colleague of theirs. He turned out to be a professor of mathematics at Luke.  
  
"Small world, innit?" Quinn said. "We met some of your colleagues at the Milestone Banquet last March, when we sat at their table -- Professors Bertrand, Riegert and Torrijos."  
  
Victor looked pleased. "They're good friends of ours. I'll be having my own thirty-year celebration next year."  
  
"Congratulations!" said Quinn. "That's quite an accomplishment."  
  
"Thank you, and thanks for the lift." Victor pulled back his hood. "You're really helping us out, fellas. I was getting nowhere fast when I tried to hail a taxi. They've stopped running now."  
  
Sharrie said, "I'm sorry for being so much trouble, honey." She turned to Quinn. "My husband has no problems walking in these conditions. He would've been home already if he hadn't had to worry about me."  
  
Victor patted her shoulder again. "Don't feel bad, sweetheart. I should've realized that there was a good chance of more snow coming, the way things have been going this winter."  
  
When they got to their street, Sharrie pointed out their brick apartment building. Ian pulled into the lot and maneuvered as close to the door as possible, making sure Sharrie was on the side nearer the entrance. It was tricky driving, since there was a grate and an incline in the way.  
  
All three men got out before Sharrie did and came over to help her. Supported by her husband and Quinn, she made it to the door, which Ian opened for her.  
  
"We can't thank you enough," Victor said.  
  
Sharrie blushed to the roots of her brown hair before venturing, "Can we pay you back?"  
  
Ian had a good feel for people, so he'd expected something like this. "Thanks for offering, but it's not necessary, ma'am."  
  
Quinn added, "Just help someone out the next time you get the chance."  
  
"Would you like to come up for hot cocoa, at least?" Sharrie asked.  
  
"Sounds delicious," Ian answered, "but we'd better get home while we still can."  
  
With that, they said their goodbyes, got into the Audi in their usual seats, and pulled out.  
  
They could see Sharrie and Victor waving at them from the doorway until they turned the corner.  
  
"Nice couple," Quinn remarked.  
  
"I'm glad I heard her talking to the manager at Customer Service. Don't think he was going to help her." Ian didn't look over at his husband; he kept his total concentration on the road.  
  
Quinn sighed. "Too many people are like that. Won't go out of their way for anyone."  
  
"Too true," Ian agreed.  
  
"She's lucky you were there, laddie." Quinn's voice held a world of admiration.  
  
"I feel lucky that we were at the right place at the right time," Ian said as he pulled into their driveway.  
  
Artoo and Sandy were waiting for them at the door, ready to cuddle. Many puppy scritches later, they settled down to hot cocoa at the kitchen table, putting Sharrie's idea into action.  
  
They looked out the window as they drank, the snowscape white on white.  
  
"I don't think the roads are passable anymore. Lucky we got in when we did." Ian felt the cocoa warming him from the inside.  
  
"Luck and your expert driving," Quinn said warmly, clinking mugs with him.  
  
"It's good to be back home," Ian said, with feeling, then scooped up a mini-marshmallow with his spoon and let it melt on his tongue. He slid both his mug and chair closer to Quinn.  
  
"That it is, laddie." Quinn picked up Ian's right hand and nuzzled the palm, unsurprised to see the marks of Sharrie's nails digging into his lad's winter-dry skin. He kissed each indentation, pride in his husband cresting.  
  
Ian then cupped his cheek with the same hand, relishing the afternoon stubble there, crisp under his fingertips. "Mmmm."  
  
Quinn nuzzled his cheek into Ian's hand again, slowly sliding the stubble over his lad's skin, then pressing a kiss into his palm.  
  
Cocoa forgotten, Ian threw his leg over Quinn's knee, revelling in his closeness to the man he loved. Their jeans kissed seconds before they did, as Quinn swooped down for a cocoa kiss.  
  
It was good to be home, indeed.


End file.
